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Many marine organisms are sedentary as adults and are redistributed between generations by the oceanic transport of planktonic larvae. In order to assess interactions among oceanographic and biological processes that determine larval dispersal patterns, we introduce a Lagrangian (or water-parcel-following) description of larval transport. This formalism is used to determine larval dispersal kernels (larval settlement probability distributions) for a range of ocean flows, planktonic larval durations and settlement pre-competency/competency periods. Paths of individual planktonic larval releases are modeled statistically and, by averaging over many individuals, ensemble estimates of larval dispersal are determined. Typical dispersal scales vary from a few km to> 400 km. Modeled dispersal kernels are well explained using only a few readily available biological and oceanographic parameters, and derived dispersal …